Venetian blind



H. R. HAAsE VENETIAN BLIND n l Filed DSG 2, 193e Dec. 12, 1939.

Patented 1.12, 1939 UNITED STATI-:s PATENT ori-*ica I I Applicileenb, 243,511

' 12 claims. v(ci. 15s-11) In the modern era of windows without draperies or with draperies at the sidesof the windows only. Venetian blinds in which the operating mechanism of the blind is completely hidden in the head structure thereof have become very'popular in order to provide a neat appearance for the exposed blind. In such a vblind it is desirable to have the head .structure reasonably low in its over-all height for the sake of neatness. A head structure, the height of which is no greater than the width of the slats of the blindl is generally considered satisfactory from the standpoint of artistic proportioning, although in some instances it may be desirable to have a head structure as Il low as possible while in. other instances it may be entirely satisfactory for the head structure to be slightly higher. There have been various suggestions for constructions which would permit the use of a low head structure or control head, some of which have beenvery satisfactory although rather expensive to manufacture. 'Among the desirable characteristics of such a control head are: adequate strength, dependability and ease of operation, and low cost.

Prior to a recent invention of mine, the control heads of low height have usually used a metallic housing in order to make use of both the strength of the thin walls of the housing for support and the relatively great space within these thin walls. According to the recent invention mentioned,

however, the tilt mechanism was so compressed that it could be applied over a wooden head rail of the conventional general configurationwithout unduly enlarging the over-all height of the control head.

One object oi the present invention is to provide additional and preferably simpler means for utiizing the principles of said recent invention in providing a very compact tllt'mechanism suit- 40 able for use over a wooden head rail if desired. Another object of the invention is to provide a low control head construction which operates directly on the tilt tapes so that no separate pieces need be secured to the tilt tape.

In the preferred forms of the present invention the -front tilt tapev extends through the tilt tape manipulating mechanism within the head structure and down therefrom to be secured to the rear tilt tape, the manipulating structure being 5o so constructed as to manipulate the tilt tapes without any slippage and without any objectionable creepage. It -should be understood that a creepage of the tape with respect to the manipu-- latlng mechanism would be very undesirable in g5 that it might result in twisting the slats or in having the manipulating structure reach the .end of its movement before the blind slats were fully tilted.

Fig. 4 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view 1I taken approximately on the line 4- 4 of Fig. 1.

Figs. 5, `6 and 7 are views corresponding to Fig. 2 but showing modied forms of the invention. Fig. `5A is a fragmentary plan view of the form shown in Fig. 5.

Although this invention may take numerous forms, only a few have been chosen, for illustration. In all of them the blind has been illustrated as includinga plurality of slats II normally held in spaced-apart relationship by ladder tapes I2 25 b ut adapted to be drawn together from the bottom upwardly by raising cords I3 extending around pulleys Il and I5 to'hang down from the control head as seen best ai; I0. Any suitable cord lock,v indicated diagrammatically at I'I, may 30 be provided for holding the slats raised to any desired height. It will be understood that the raising cords I3 extend freely through the slats II and are secured to a bottom rail I8 so'that the cords raise the bottom rail I8 and pick up the s'ats inturn as it reaches them.,

According to the well known practice in Venetian blinds, the ladder tapes I2 or any substitutes therefor are so mounted that they -may be manipulated by raising. one side of each ladder tape while lowering the'other side so that the slats may be tilted to any desired angle. Thus, as seen in full lines in Fig. 2, the slats are in horizontal position, while, as seen in dotted lines in the same figure, one side of the tilt tape has been raised and the other lowered to shift the slats to a steeply inclined position, thus in eiIect closing the blind. According to the present invention the manipulating means may assume any one of varir ous forms. In allof the forms chosen for illustration, the manipulating means includes a control roler 2| which manipulates the tilt tape by v -frictional engagement therewith, the tilt tape exby the reference 2| a or 2 I6 for the sake of clarity in discussing the different forms.

One of the forms of the invention is shown in Figs. l to 3. In this form the control roller 2| is rotatably carried by a bracket 22 of generally U-shape which is secured on top of a head rail 23. The use of the head rail 23 as the support means is often preferred because of the fact that this is a stock piece Vof lumber which can be readily secured by any small Venetian blind manufacturer and can easily be fitted to the blind. According to the form of the invention of Figs. 1 to 3, a pairA of relatively narrow and somewhat tapered slots 24 are cut through the head rail 23 at each tilt tape position for-the two sides of the tilt tape to pass through. Of course, the raising cord pulleys |4 will be mounted at the same points in the usual Way so that the raising cord I3A extending down through the slats will be hidden by the tilt tapes |2. The roller 2| is preferably formed of a metallic cylinder 21 which may conveniently be die cast and preferably has an externally ribbed rubber sleeve 28 cemented or otherwise secured thereto. The extended portion 29 of the ladder tape extends over and thus partially around the roller 2| and is secured to the other side of the ladder tape as seen at 3|. The position of the joint 3| is such that it will not interfere with the movement of the tape over the roller 2| or be noticeable from the front of the blind. The tape extension 29 is squeezed against the rubber sleeve 28 of the roller 2| by a pressure roller 32 which may be urged toward the roller 2| in any suitable manner.

The rollers 2| and 32may be driven by any desirable drive mechanism and are preferably geared together, at least unless the larger or control roller 2| is driven directly. In the illustrated form of Figs. l'to 3 the two rollers are geared together by means of gear teeth 33 which may be formed on the respective rollers in die casting. The smaller or pressure roller 32, which is preferably ribbed, is driven by a shaft 36 to which it is keyed as by a suitable pin 31. The shaft 36 in turn passes through the pressure roller 32 at all other tape positions and through a control cord unit 38 in which a pulley 39 is keyed to the shaft 36. The control cord unit 38 is seen best in Figs. 1 and 4, in which it is seen that a control cord 4| is wrapped around the pulley 39 several revolutions and preferably secured theretov at an appropriate mid-point so that the pulley 39 and the shaft 36 may be rotated in either direction by pulling the different strands of the control cord 4|. preferably passes over a guide pulley 42 which has been illustrated as elongated so that the control cord may move back and forth as it is wound on or unwound from the pulley 39. The control cord 4| passes downwardly through a slot 43 in the front side of the head rail 23.

The shaft 36 furnishes a convenient means for `applying pressure on the pressure rollers 32 toward the control roller 2 I. This may be accomplished by the simple expedient of running the shaft 36 through slots 44 in bracket 22, hooking one end of a spring 46 around the shaft 36 and hooking the other end to a suitable lug 41 which may be bent out from the bracket 22. One spring 46 may be provided at each end of each of the pressure rollers 32. The shaft 36 will be long enough so that its angular deflection due to its lateral movement will be'negligible and hence it is not necessary to take special precautions to keep Control cord 4| the rollers 32 in parallelism, and one spring by each roller could be omitted.

It will be evident that as one end of the control cord 4| is pulled it will unwind from pulley 39, thus rotating the pulley 39 and the shaft 36 which in turn will rotate the pressure rollers 32, and these will rotate the control rollers 2|' to which they are geared. Because of the relatively small size of the pressure roller 32 as compared to the control roller 2|, this arrangement has the effect of a gear reduction arrangement so that a worm gear drive between the cord 4| and the shaft 36 will not be necessary. Of course, such worm gear drive may be provided in accordance with conventional practice if preferred, one form of such drive being illustrated in my copending application Serial No. 211,190, May 31, 1938.

The entire operating mechanism of the control head may be concealed behind a face board 5| which may conveniently be made of ordinary Venetian blind slat stock. This face board may be secured in any suitable manner as by clips 52.

In Fig. 5 I have illustrated a similar type of tilt control mechanism mounted in a sheet metal casing 56. The use of the metal casing permits a reduction in the over-all height of the control head since a considerable portion of the height of the control head in Fig. 2 is necessary in order to make room for a head rail 23 of sufficient thickness to provide the necessary strength. The form of the invention illustrated in Fig. 5 is also slightly different from that in Fig. 2 in that a second pressure roller 32a has been provided to make doubly certain that there will be no slippage between the control roller 2| and the tape extension 29. The pressure roller 32a is geared to the control roller 2| and may be provided with stub shafts 51 at its ends, to eachv of which a spring will be applied. As a matter of fact, it will be most convenient to suspend one spring between each of the stub shafts 51 and the nearest portions of the shaft 36. The stub shafts 51 may be provided with a cap or an annular groove for retaining the spring thereon as seen in Fig. 5A.

It should be understood that in Fig. 5 the various parts of the tilt mechanism and preferably also the raising pulley I4 may be secured to a bracket 58 carried Within the metallic housing 56, which is preferably of channel shape as seen in Fig. 5.

Still another form of the invention has been shown in Fig. 6, in which the head rail 23 has slots 6| cut in the front and back faces thereof for the tapes 2. With this form of the invention the pressure rollers 32 and 32a also serve as guide rollers to support the tape extension 29 approximately directly over the slots 6| and at the same time cause it to pass partially around the control roller 2|. The shafts for rollers 32 and 32a are mounted in sloping slots so that they are urged toward control roller 2|a by the weight of the slats. Springs may also be used. Fig. 6 also illustrates a modification of the driving arrangements in that it shows a shaft 63 extending through the control roller 2 |a to drive this roller directly instead of through the pressure roller 32. Of course, the shaft 63 will be driven with the usual worm gear drive by a control cord 4|. This alternative driving arrangement may be used in all of the forms of the invention.

In Fig. '1 still another modification of the invention has been shown. According to this form a control unit is provided for mounting on the head rail 23, which need not be slotted for the tilt tapes. It should be understood that there is sometimes a little advantage in not having to slot the head rail for the tilt tapes inasmuch as the slots weaken the head rail to a slight extent. According to this form of the invention the tilt control unit includes a bracket 1i of generally' U-shape, a control roller 2lb which is covered with ribbed rubber. and an idling pressure roller 12 which in this instance has been illustrated as urged against the control roller 2lb by a leaf spring 13 which may operate in a slot at the center of the pressure roller 12,. Of course, this alternative form of pressure means may be applied to any of the other pressure rollers in place of the springs illustrated therewith.

v According to the feature of the invention shown in Fig. '1, the pressure roller 12 is positioned with its rear side just over the edge of the head rail 23 so that the tape hanging down therefrom will not drag thereon except at the lower corner of the head rail when the slats are in a tilted position. Such lower corner may be considerably rounded or even somewhat slotted if desired. A guide roller 14 is also provided, this guide roller being positioned in a notch 16 out in the face board 'or slat 5I and being so positioned that the ladder tape extension 29 will pass in front of the face board 5i but will not drag thereon unduly.

Fig. 7 also shows a clip 18 of modified form. It isprovided with a hump or oiset portion 19 above the head rail 23 so that it may be sprung more easily to engage or release the face board 5l.

One of the important considerations in all of the illustrated forms of the invention is the avoidance of slippage or creepage between the tape and control roller. It should be born in mind that in tilting the slats as far as possible, the tapes on one face of the blind are drawn up until they support virtually the entire weight of the slats. The manipulating mechanism must therefore grip the tape firmly to prevent it from slipping. Furthermore, there might be a gradual creepage every time the device was operated that would be objectionable after a few months if it was cumulative, and 'so the gripping must be rm at all times. Although a control roller with a ribbed rubber sleeve cemented thereon is preferred, other rollers may be found to be satisfactory. Smooth die-cast pressure rollers have been found to be satisfactory. The use of such gripping means makes it possible to carry the front tilt tape itself (or any substitute therefor or extension thereof) through the gripping means. This is very desirable from the standpoint of simplicity and also gives a very neat appearance. Since the tape is moved right through the manipulating device, the movement is not limited to the length of tape within the head, but an exposed portion of the tape may be drawn up into the head and through the gripping or manipulating device. This in turn permits the use of as low a head structure as will house the manipulating structure and v`.support the blind with sufilcient strength.

Additional forms of the invention are illustrated in my copending application Serial No. 243,512, executed and filed on even dates herewith, the disclosure of which application is hereby made a part of the present application by reference.

The disclosures of this application are illustrative and the invention is not to be limited by them. In fact. if modifications or improvements are not at once obvious, they may be devised in the course of time to make additional use of the broad ideas taught and covered by this application. The claims are intended to point out novel features and not to limit the invention except as may be required by prior art.

I claim:

1. A control head for Venetian blinds, including support means. a plurality of rollers supported thereby. means for rotatably driving one of the rollers, and ilexible slat:control means threaded through and partially around at least two of said rollers including the driven roller whereby the rotation of the driven roller causes the slat-control means to follow a tortuous path among said rollers.

2. A Venetian blind including a support structure. a roller carried by said support structure, a plurality of slats, flexible slat-control means adapted to engage said slats on both sides thereof and extending from one side up over the roller. around said roller less than one convolution. and downwardly from said roller to the other side of said slats, and a second roller pressing the slatcontrol means against the ilrst roller and with it gripping the slat-control means, said Slat-control means being otherwise free with respect to said rollers whereby they may move the slat-control means a distance farther than the length of contact therebetween.

3. A Venetian blind including-support means, a large roller and a small roller carried by the support means, geared together to rotate at approximately the same peripheral speeds, and resiliently urged toward one another, flexible slatcontrol means extending less than one convolution around the large roller and gripped between it and the small roller, and manual operating means for'rotating said small roller.

4. A Venetian blind including support means, a large roller and a small roller carried by the support means, geared ,together to, rotate at approximately the same periphferal speeds, and resiliently urged toward one another, exible slatcontrol means extending less than one convolution around the large roller and gripped between it and the small roller, and manual operating means for rotating said small roller comprising a third roller connected substantially directly to the small roller and an operating cord wound around said third roller and suspended from said support means to a position lof manual accessibility.

5. A Venetian blind including a plurality of slats, a ladder tape supporting said slats in spaced relationship, and a control head for controlling and supporting said ladder tape including a plurality oi rollers geared together and resiliently urged toward one another with one side of the ladder tape extending partially around one of said rollers and being gripped between said rollers and connected to the other side of the ladder tape and being otherwise unsecured to said rollers, at least one of said rollers having a resilient sleeve for gripping said ladder tape.

6. A control head for Venetian blinds, including support means, a large roller carried by said support means, and a plurality of guide rollers adapted to guide flexible slat-control means extending partially around said large roller through a tortuous path as the large roller is rotated.

'1. A Venetian blind including a wooden head rail, slats spaced below said head rail, a slat-control means engaging said slats and extending over said head rail, a' control roller carried by said head rail thereabove, and a pair of guide rollers for guiding said sist-control means with respect to said control roller to increase the length of contact therebetween and with respect to the sides of said head rail to decrease the iriction thereon.

8. A Venetian blind including a wooden head rail, slats spaced below said head rail, slat-control means engaging said slats and extending over said head rail, a control rollerA carried by said head rail thereabove, and a pair of guide rollers for guiding said Slat-control means with respect to said control' roller to increase the length of contact therebetween and with respect to the sides of said head rail to decrease the friction thereon, said guide rollers being approximately above the sides of the head rail.

9. A Venetian blind including a wooden head rail. slats spaced below said head rail, Slat-control means engaging said slats and extending over said head rail, a control roller carried by said head rail thereabove, and a pair of guide rollers for guiding said Slat-control means with respect to said control roller to increase the length of contact therebetween and with respect to the sides of said head rail to decrease the friction thereon, said guide rollers being approximately above the sides of the head rail, and one oi said guide rollers and the control roller being urged firmly against one another with the Slat-control means pinched therebetween whereby slippage between said Slat-control means and said control roller is prevented.

10. A control head for Venetian blinds, including support means, a face member extending approximately to the top of the control head, a pulley positioned approximately at the top ot said control head and over a portion of thefface member and adapted to guide flexible slat-control means from in iront of said face member to the rear of the face, member, and manipulating means positioned behind said face member and supported by said support means for operating said'slat-control means.

11. A control unit for Venetian blinds, including a bracket having its baseportion adapted to be secured to ahead rail. and a plurality of rollers rotatably carried by the bracket for operating a flexible Slat-control means threaded therebetween, atleast two of said rollers being urged toward one another to grip said Slat-control means therebetween.

12. A control unit for Venetian blinds, including a bracket having its base portion adapted to be secured to a head rail, and a plurality oi' rollers rotatably carried by the bracket for operating a flexible Slat-control means threaded therebetween, at least two oi' said rollers being urged toward one another to grip said Slat-control means therebetween, and one of said rollers being positioned at the top of and somewhat offset forwardly from the main portion of said bracket to guide said Slat-control means over a face member which may be applied under said roller.

HARoLnR. HAAsE.'

CERTIFI CATE OF CORRECTI ON Patent No. 2,182,8011. December 12, 1959.

HAROLD R. HAASE. It is hereby certified that error 1p-pears in the print-Ted specification -of the above numbered patent requiring correction as foliows': Page 5, second column, 'line 69, claim 7, l strike out the article "ai' after "rail,";

page ,4, second column, line 6, claim 10, strikeout the comma after "face";

and tha the said Letters Patent should be readwith this correction' therein that the same my conform to the record of the case in the Patent Office.

Signed and sealed this 50th dey of January, A. D. 191;0.

i Henry -Van Arsdale',

(Sea1) Acting Commissioner of Patents. 

